Lars Kepler - The Sandman

‘He may be thinking of keeping her in the capsule for another twenty years,’ Carlos says in an unsteady voice.

‘All we know is that she was still alive when Mikael escaped,’ Joona goes on.

‘I can’t bear this,’ Carlos says, getting to his feet. ‘I just want to scream when I think—’

‘We haven’t got time for tears at the moment,’ Verner interrupts.

‘All I’m trying to say is—’

‘I know, I feel the same,’ Verner says, raising his voice. ‘But in just over an hour the Prison Service Committee will hold an extraordinary meeting to take the formal decision to move patients to the secure unit at Löwenströmska, so—’

‘I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing,’ Saga says.

‘By then we need to have your new identity finished,’ Verner goes on, holding a calming hand towards Saga. ‘We need to have your medical history sorted, and the forensic psychology report; the District Court judgment will have to be added to the National Judiciary Administration database, and your temporary transfer to Karsudden needs to be organised.’

‘We’d better get a move on,’ Pollock says.

‘But Saga wants to know what the mission is,’ Joona says.

‘It’s just that it’s bloody difficult for me to... I mean, how can I have an opinion about what you’re discussing if I don’t even know what’s expected of me?’ Saga says.

Pollock holds a plastic folder up to her.

‘On your first day you need to place a tiny microphone in the dayroom, with a fibre-optic receiver and transmitter,’ Verner says.

Pollock gives her the folder containing the microphone.

‘Smuggled in up my backside?’ she asks.

‘No, they’re bound to carry out a full body-cavity search,’ Verner replies.

‘You need to swallow it, then vomit it back up before it reaches your duodenum... and then swallow it again,’ Pollock explains.

‘Never leave it longer than four hours,’ Verner says.

‘And I carry on doing this until I manage to place it in the dayroom,’ Saga says.

‘We’re going to have people positioned in a van who’ll be listening to everything in real time,’ Pollock says.

‘OK, I get that bit,’ Saga says. ‘But giving me a District Court conviction, a whole load of psychiatric evaluations and all that—’

‘We need that because—’

‘Let me finish,’ she interrupts. ‘I get it... I’ll have a coherent background, I’ll be in the right place, and I’ll plant the microphone, but...’

The look in her eyes is hard and her lips are pale as she looks at each of them in turn:

‘But why the hell... Why would Jurek Walter tell me anything?’

Nathan is standing up, Carlos has both hands over his face, and Verner is fiddling with his mobile.

‘I don’t understand why Jurek Walter would talk to me,’ Saga repeats.

‘Obviously, we’re taking a chance,’ Joona says.

‘In the unit there are three separate secure rooms, with a shared dayroom containing a running machine and a television concealed behind reinforced glass,’ Verner explains. ‘Jurek Walter has been held in isolation for thirteen years, so I don’t know how much the dayroom has been used.’

Nathan Pollock pushes the plan of the secure unit over and points out Jurek’s room and the dayroom next to it.

‘If we’re really unlucky, the staff won’t allow the patients to see each other... we have no influence over that,’ Carlos admits.

‘I understand,’ Saga says calmly. ‘But I’m thinking more about the fact that I have no idea... not a fucking clue about how I might approach Jurek Walter.’

‘You could try asking to see a representative from the administrative court, and demand to have a fresh risk assessment,’ Carlos says.

‘Who do I say that to?’ she asks.

‘Senior Consultant Roland Brolin,’ Verner replies, putting a photograph in front of her.

‘Jurek himself is hemmed in by restrictions,’ Pollock says. ‘So he’ll be watching you closely, and will probably ask questions, seeing as your visits will be a sort of window on the world.’

‘What should I expect from him? What does he want?’ Saga says.

‘He wants to escape,’ Joona replies sternly.

‘Escape?’ Carlos repeats incredulously, tapping a pile of reports. ‘He hasn’t made a single attempt to escape in all the time he’s—’

‘He won’t try if he knows he won’t succeed,’ Joona says.

‘And you think he might say something in these circumstances that could lead you to the capsule?’ Saga asks, without even trying to hide her scepticism.

‘We now know that Jurek has an accomplice... which means that he has the capacity to trust other people,’ Joona says.

‘So he’s not paranoid,’ Pollock says.

Saga smiles. ‘That makes things a whole lot easier.’

‘None of us imagines that Jurek’s going to confess just like that,’ Joona says. ‘But if you can persuade him to talk, sooner or later he’ll say something that can get us closer to Felicia.’

‘You’ve spoken to him,’ Saga says to Joona.

‘Yes, he talked to me because he was hoping I’d change my testimony... but in all that time he didn’t go anywhere close to anything personal.’

‘So why would he with me?’

‘Because you’re exceptional,’ Joona replies, looking her straight in the eye.

Saga gets up, wraps her arms around herself and stands quite still, looking at the sleet through the window.

‘The most difficult thing right now is having to justify the transfer to the secure unit at Löwenströmska, whilst simultaneously finding a crime and a diagnosis that won’t lead to heavy medication,’ Verner says.

‘The whole mission will probably fail if you’re put in a straitjacket or given electroconvulsive treatment,’ Pollock says bluntly.

‘Shit,’ she whispers, and turns to face them again.

‘Jurek Walter’s an intelligent man,’ Joona says. ‘It’s not easy to manipulate him, and it will be very dangerous lying to him.’

‘We need to create a perfect identity,’ Verner says, his eyes fixed on Saga.

‘I’ve been giving this some thought, and I think it makes sense to give you a schizophrenic personality disorder,’ Pollock says, peering at her through his narrow black eyes.

‘Will that be enough?’ Carlos asks.

‘If we throw in recurrent psychotic attacks with violent outbursts...’

‘OK,’ Saga nods, as her cheeks start to blush red.

‘You’re kept calm with eight milligrams of Trilafon three times a day,’ he says.

‘Just how dangerous is this mission?’ Verner eventually asks, seeing as Saga hasn’t put the question.

‘Jurek is extremely dangerous, the other patient who’s going to be arriving at the same time as Saga is also dangerous, and we have no control over her treatment once she’s there,’ Pollock replies honestly.

‘So you can’t give any guarantees about the safety of my agent?’ Verner says.

‘No,’ Carlos replies.

‘You’re aware of this, Saga?’ Verner asks.

‘Yes.’

‘Only a very select group will know about the existence of this mission, and we won’t have any overview of what’s going on inside the secure unit,’ Pollock says. ‘So if for some reason we don’t hear you over the microphone, we’ll break off the mission after twenty-seven hours – but until then you’ll have to take care of yourself.’

Joona puts the detailed plan of the secure unit in front of Saga and points at the dayroom with his pen.

‘As you can see, there are airlocks here... and three automated doors there,’ Joona says. ‘It’s not easy, but in an emergency you could try to barricade yourself in here, possibly also here or here... And if you’re outside the airlock, the operations room and this storeroom are clearly the best options.’